The Swedes have scored the most goals (69) of all teams in the Allsvenskan league. On the European stage, Häcken have had a relatively high number of shots on goal but the conversion rate leaves room for improvement. The team have lost all six games in European competitions in the past and conceded 21 goals (3.5 per game) and only scored three (0.5 per game) along the way.
Meanwhile good omens for the opposition: Bayer 04 have won all three previous games against Swedish clubs in Europe – 1986/87 in the UEFA Cup at home and away to Kalmar FF plus the game on matchday one in the current Europa League campaign against Häcken (4-0). And: The Black and Reds have won all four games in the Europa League this season. A fifth win would be historic as the last time there were five wins in succession in Europe was in the UEFA Cup in 1994/95.
The Swedish league season ended for Häcken three weeks ago. The champions of last season finished third this term and also won the Swedish Cup. As Häcken have not played another game since 12 November, the team prepared for the match against Bayer 04 with a friendly last Friday. The Black and Yellows, at home at the Ullevi in Gothenburg, beat Norwegian second division team Kongsvinger IL 2-1.
Häcken are bottom of the table in Group H of the Europa League with no points to date. All four games ended in defeat, sometimes significantly so. The 4-0 reverse at the Werkself was followed by a 1-0 defeat at home to Qarabag and most recently two defeats (1-5, 1-3) against Molde. Together with TSC Backa Topola, group opponents for SC Freiburg, Häcken have conceded 13 goals and that is the equal highest of all the 32 teams participating in the competition. The lowdown on the next opponents.
UEFA has appointed the Austrian Julian Weinberger as the referee the match in Gothenburg. The 38-year-old will be assisted by his fellow countrymen Andreas Heidenreich and Maximilian Kolbitsch on the touchlines and another Austrian Walter Altmann is the VAR.
As usual, Werkself Radio is available for anybody unable to be at today's game. The audio broadcast begins 30 minutes before kick-off with commentary provided by Cedric Pick. In addition, the live text update service will keep you up-to-date to ensure you don't miss any of the key match action. Both Werkself Radio and the live text update service are available at bayer04.de and on the Bayer 04 app.
Winger Synne Skinnes Hansen is leaving Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the end of the season. The 29-year-old, who will be out of contract, is set to join Valerenga IF back home in Norway.
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Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personalised Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Analysing and further developing goalkeeping together is the target of the annual goalkeeping coaches meeting of the German Football Association (DFB). The goalkeeping coaches in the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the third division, divided into regional groups, meet every year under the guidance of DFB goalkeeping coordinator Marc Ziegler. Following 2023, the meeting of the goalkeeping coaches of professional clubs from the Western region took place yesterday, Tuesday 29 April, at the BayArena for the second time. The Werkself goalkeeping coach David Thiel acted as the host of the meeting and he made an impromptu contribution.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have agreed to loan U19 striker Artem Stepanov to FC Nürnberg, currently tenth in Bundesliga 2, for the 2025/26 season. The Ukrainian centre-forward is set to gain match practice at a high level under the guidance of FCN coach and World Cup winner Miroslav Klose. The loan is due to run for twelve months.
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